Hello, everybody! It's been a bit since I last did a newsletter. Last year ended in a rollercoaster for me as a comics creator. We did not met our goal for the new UltraMax trade. My first Kickstarter failure. But I did get to do some assistant work on a Terminator comic. That felt neat! I was reached out to by an editor from a publisher inviting me to pitch. So very exciting! But then they kinda stopped responding to my emails. Like I said its been a topsy-turvey one. I am totally ready to bounce back strong.
If you are new to me: Hi, I am Doug Wood. I am a disabled writer from South Kansas City. I have been published with actual books at comic shops. I have ran 8 successful Kickstarter campaigns. My friends kindly voted for me to be the 2023 Independent Comic Creator Year.
INHERITANCE
Sometimes dealing with tragedy in life will leave you inspired to write something. Whether it be for catharsis, therapy or wanting the world to know what happened, writing about grief is normal. During the pandemic, my family had loved ones pass a year apart from each other. Neither to our knowledge were due to covid. So much happened that frankly it would sound far-fetched to any outsider. Worst, was while dealing with loss came also the cost of dealing with inheritance. When I discuss our situation now, a few years separated from the start, one phrase comes up in my mind: the poison lottery ticket.
If you have ever seen discussions about mega winners of lotteries years after, most stories go one way. The winnings became a terrible thing that crushed relationships, financial stability and trust. Our inheritance felt like that on a much smaller scale. While the amount would be insignificant to most, it would be life changing to our community.
We have had to deal with lawsuits, extortion attempts, robbery and so much other madness. This situation is still ongoing. While I want to write something about it, I decided to try to imagine this in a fantastical way. A man who has a father pass, a legacy he never wanted to be apart of and a family or community that will do everything in their power to get their "owed" stake. These people who just happen to be supervillains.
The process of this book was another part of my 2025 roller coaster. I had a collaborator primed and ready to go. She drew character designs and began laying out the pages for our crowdfunding campaign. Sadly, she became too busy and disappeared on me. I was so luck that when I put out a call to friends that inker and colorist Travis James would offer to help. I met Travis through the Comic Yeti discord. He was posting consistently and energetically his progress as an inker. That energy was so captivating that I too began to pick up my ink pens and attempt to learn inking again.
With Travis onboard I equally lucked into Brendan Albetski offering to take up the penciling duties. I have been an enormous fan of Brendan's adventurous and mesmerizing style. He has someone that I have been speaking about wanting to work with forever and I was so happy something finally lined up. Brendan is someone I believe has an unlimited potential as a sequential storyteller. I cannot wait for publisher to give him those big opportunities to shine under his own voice.
We have really gelled as a team and we cannot wait to share our vision for this comic. Our planned launch is just a few weeks away. If you have any interest, we are asking for you to consider signing up to be notified of our launch. The higher the number of sign ups, the better we fair with treatment by Kickstarter. We could really use your help at this time.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1741339986/inheritance-5
What Else Is In Store For 2026?
IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT- Jack and I have already started discussion of In The Pale Moonlight issue 2. I have pitched Jack some difficult visual ideas and he has countered with even more complicated visual ideas. The script has begun being written, as well as, my attempts at some crude layouts to show Jack what I have in mind. We hope to have something to share in 2026.
ULTRAMAX II- Despite our goal not being met, UltraMax is not over. We shot at the moon with attempting to go straight to trade paperback. We were told by crowdfunding peers that it was too ambitious in the current market. So we will be reattempting in single issue format. Look forward to UltraMax II issue 1.
YELLOW RAT- Late last year I started posting on reddit ways for new creators to get started in comics. Several people wanted me to cover how webcomics would work. I sadly did not have the experience necessary to give great advice. I lucked out and artist Steven Bristow has agreed to give a short run webcomic a go with me. Coming soon, a crime story of a man who finally achieved his dream of owning a deli only for the mob to burn it down. He wants revenge, but will he be able to overcome the label that stuck to him during the war? Yellow Rat.
THE LOST LONDON- Sometimes you get lucky and you see an artist searching for a writer who is wanting a genre script you are currently working on. Austin Darby draws incredible fantasy comics and I was lucky to be selected to work with him on a comic pitch. The Lost London is an alternate history fantasy comic where during World War II, the magicians of the UK decided to relocate their precious Britannia to a different realm to avoid being attacked by the Nazi bombardment. One encampment escapee will find the key to traveling to the lost motherland and help find a way to reconnect with the haughty magical elites against their invaders.
MEMORY NOT FOUND- Lastly, I was approached by artist Butch Mapa about attempting another pitch. We did a graphic novel query in 2020 that while gained us many positive responses, any yet netted us no contracts. We are going to attempt to venture into the world of cyberpunk and teen romance with Memory Not Found. A high action comic centered around a hacker that gets burnt by her money man and a biohacker that has government secrets he has been paid to store in his memory. They will collide and be on the run from so many scary people. Butch gets this vision better than I do, and his ideas have made this comic sing. Cannot wait for him to become available again so we can rock this story!
